The Labor enquirer., 1887-04-02
The Rev. Thomas Van Ness
breaches Something That
the Denver Capitalist
Press Refuses
TO Print.
THE CHURCHES on TRIAL.
The Denver Preacher Warn His
People to be True =
Americans.
He Insists That 1t Il Time fer Them
to Wake Up and Take q Hand
In the Peoples Battle.

but after reading, publication refusedl.
''Sail on o Union, strong and great
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears
Our faith triumphant DER our fears
Are all with thee, are all with thee.
-LoNaFKLLow.
No pilot Is worth much who knows
little about the force of tides. The
study Of undercurrent and hidden rocks
is worth more to him than the study Of
botany and philanthropy. Inotice in
crossing from Jersey Cityto New York
that the ferry boat does not always take q
straight course. Sometimes it looks as
tho 1t headed too far up the river or too
far down. When we get near the ferry
slip we see the reason for the course
taken; the force of the current swings us
around to the wharf desired.
A boat without pilot is not of much
use; boat with poor pilot is likely to
get into danger.
A congregation without a minister
does not amount to much a congrega-
tion with poor minister is worse off
than with none.
Ministers are sometimes jokingly
called "sky pilots" The term is not in
In looking above and try.
ing to steer by the Star of Bethlehem
they 60 wrong by an ignorance of the
great under-currents in the ocsan of hu-
manity.
The under-currents must be studied
and taken into account; otherwise there
is wreck. Never was the need greater
than at present. Superficial views are
likely to be wrong. Things are not what
they seem to be at first glance.
Superfcialness shows itself in cheer
full optimism which says: "Oh, never
mind the tide, the passage is an easy
one. No danger about it," There is q
safer tho qualified kind of optimism
which says Certainly you can safely
pass to the other side, but there are dan
gers from sudden storms, from sunken
rocks, from the ebb and flow, from the
hidden under-:urrents. These under
stood and guarded against you are likely
to succeed"
l consider it one of the duties of the
to study the under-currents of
life and tell which way they flow and
what their intensity.
In November of 1885, about thanks
giving time, our ministers were painting
in rosy colors the peace and prosperity
of>our land. Their sermons were hope
ful but scarcely helpful to the thought
full man who saw the signs of uneasiness
on the horizon. This pulpit took occa-
sion to differ from the many others, and
spoke of the danger ahead. The wise
editor of one of our morning papers rid
iduled the idea, called the preacher
gloomy prophet of evil and 30 on. Be-
fore the year was out the United States
saw along the Southwestern system of
railroads one of the greatest labor strikes
on record. mob violence in East st.
Louis, riot and dynamite bomb in Chi
cago, passions infamed in Kansas City,
New York and other greater centres.
Fortunately for the country. there
stood at the head of the largest labor
in the world, man of ex-
cellent judgment and with almost auto
cratic power. Had it not been for his
wisdom and the prompt action of the
Chicago police who will say that the hot
blood once aroused would not have led
to greater deeds of violence and blood
shed such as few would like to even i'm
sgine. Mr.. Van Ness gets little off
his eggs in this paragraph, but he will
learn better hereafter.-ED. INQUIRER.
To-day there is much said about the
conflict of labor and capital, in the eco
nomic field of the rise of secularism in
the religious field; of the tendency to-
ward Socialism in the political field.
These things are surface Indications.
They are the product OF an unrsstful
condition of things underneath. y
They show that the great mass of peo.
pie are out of joint with the times, even
discontented. The things which once
satisfied them will satisfy. them NO
more. The real reason then for lock-
outs, boycotts, strikes, Nihilism, Com
munism, Socialism, Anarchism. secular
ism, atheism, is the widespread and
growing discomfort of the masses with
existing institutions, political, economic.
religious.
This morning We want to look at this
discomfort and see what is our own
duty.
Notice, first of all. the curious fact
that the things which fifty wears ago it
was hoped would lead to greater happl-
ness for the masses are the very things
which to-day are leading to discomfort.
Fifty years ago it was said Modern i'm